Practical Joke
by fivestoryfall
Summary: Harry wakes up to find his memories of the previous night fuzzy, having spent them celebrating his engagement and the Christmas holiday with friends. The only problem is someone is in his bed next to him, and it isn't Ginny, his bride to be. H/Hr.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own not Harry Potter. I wish I did though :(

The sun's morning beams spilled through the curtains of one Harry Potter's bedroom window. It was nearly noon but The Boy who Lived, now and forever known as The Chosen One, a boy no longer, was just beginning to stir, eyes still shut. Grimmauld Place never used to look inviting, in the days of the Order, it was never much of a home, but instead a mere convenience due to the size of the place. Harry took up residence here after school, taking the time to figure out what exactly he wished to do with his life.

Since then, he had taken up employment at Hogwarts as a temporary Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor, found himself a steady girlfriend in the beautiful redhead that was Ginny Weasley, had dated said beauty for a little under two years now, and took time out of most every other day to visit his other favorite people in the world... his best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.

The room was a moderately sized master bedroom, the first one you would encounter if you began to climb the stairs of Grimmauld Place. Harry had sequestered off a good portion of the manor, feeling that it "Was just too damn big," and that in doing so the place became much more inviting. All that was accessible from the stairs were his bedroom, the loo, and a guest bedroom that was typically used when a friend needed to stay for the night.

Harry woke up nearly at once, eyes still shut as he assessed his surrounding, a habit permanently ingrained into his morning ritual from the days in which they were on the run from Voldemort. Almost everything felt as it usually did, but something was slightly off to him.

Cocooned under a crimson chocolate comforter, safe from the winter cold which felt like a living presence outside of the safe zone of the comforter and sheets, Harry could feel the rays of light playing brilliant blasts of sun between his shut eyelids, his usual reminder that he had slept in too late.

The only sound that was out of the ordinary was the still breathing of a figure laying next to him... while not entirely unusual, Harry couldn't fully remember the events last night and something still felt off to him. Ginny was a tiny girl and barely left an imprint in the bed when she lay next to him, and he could tell by that fact that this was probably not his Ginny. This startled Harry into full awareness.

His hand was holding the hand of whomever was peacefully sleeping next to him, the skin soft and delicate, not work hardened like Ginny's was, but about the same size as hers, and it was loosely gripping his own. Listening intently to the quiet breathing of the girl next to him, he couldn't place anything on what he knew, and didn't want to look... partially out of a fear of waking whomever it was, and partially out of fear and guilt for what may have happened last night.

This line of thought also brought to his attention that he was stark naked under the sheets, and further following that line, so was she... partially anyways. The back of his hand was pressed lightly against her bare waist by her own soft hand, and this realization caused an involuntary sharp intake of breath that he quickly stifled.

_'What in the hell happened last night... All I remember is a party thrown last night, partially on behalf of Ginny and I's engagement and partially for Christmas. How did I end up in bed naked with another woman after that?'_

The girl next to him stirred ever so slightly, turning as she gave a barely audible but very noticeably contented sigh. Harry felt ever more guilty for finding that sigh absolutely adorable, but still couldn't place who it was. He could tell that they were on their side now, and facing him, but still very much asleep. She had moved their hands against her stomach and he could feel her soft navel against his skin, this thought sending pleasant jolts up his arm.

_'Damn it.. Man up Potter. I think it's time to summon up that Gryffindor courage and quit being a prat about this. You got yourself into this, you can figure it out. It can't be any harder than anything else you have ever dealt with.'_

Slowly opening his eyelids, he turned his head to the side and drank in the beautiful sight before him. She was sleeping peacefully, eyes closed and facing him, lips parted ever so slightly with her shallow breathing. The comforter came up to but didn't full cover her shoulder, leaving it mostly bare, and her hair was a gorgeous mess of milk chocolate brown, a strand or two playing across her delicate features.

Reaching out with his free arm, he groped the nightstand blindly for his glasses and quickly found them, slipping them on as he turned to face to face her fully. Just as he did so, and just as she came in to focus, his mouth formed an exact 'O,' and hers formed into a sleepy smile. Apparently she was awake now, but not fully so.

_'Hermione..?'_

Wriggling just slightly into her burrow of covers, she pulled his hand up to her chest, his skin igniting as it glided up her stomach, on top of and over her left breast, and then rest there over her heart. Her smile was one of perfect contentment, and her eyelids slowly parted for a moment before she gave a small sleepy yawn, which turned into a small sleepy moan as she stretched her legs under the sheets. Harry blinked and felt his cheeks begin to fill with heat, entirely unsure of what to do with this situation.

Not given much more of a chance to think about it, she scooted towards him, eyes closed again with a sleepy smile playing across her face, and nestled against his front, pulling him towards her. Hermione rested her forehead against his chest and placed a small kiss upon it, cuddling up against him.

"H-Hermione..?" Harry stammered softly, his face and chest now radiating heat. What confused him the most was how good and how purely right this felt. This fact also riddled him with guilt. _'But it feels so right..'_

Harry wrapped his free arm around her waist and held her to him, his hand resting in the arch of her back, and he felt an involuntary tightening in his lower region, causing another equally involuntary sigh of embarrassment. Hermione was aware of both of these and gave a small playful laugh, pressing herself further against him.

"Mm.. Someone is eager.." she teased and raised her face up to his for the first time, scooting up to level with him, eyes still closed. Hermione slowly leaned forward, still eyes closed.

"W-wait.. Hermi.." Harry's words were cut off as she pressed her lips to his in a sleepily passionate kiss. Caught completely off guard, he responded instinctively and tilted his head to the side, kissing her fully back. She responded enthusiastically, parting her lips and pulling his body closer to hers, moving against him. Letting go of her hand, he raised his own and rested it on the side of her neck, the pad of his thumb brushing the line of her cheek, his other hand pressing her firmly to him, her back arching and all the more pressing her against him.

_'Hermione.. what are you doing to me and why am I reacting like this?'_

His own lips parted instinctively, and her tongue found his, dancing with it, before she raised her hand up to his cheek, resting it gently there and breaking the kiss abruptly, even teasingly. After placing another soft, small kiss on his lips, her mouth forming into a serene smile, she fluttered her eyes open and looked at him.

"Harry...?" she looked almost puzzled, a look of sleepy astonishment on her face. Hermione took her hand from his cheek and pressed two fingers against her lips, still looking up at him wonderingly.

"H.. Hi Hermione" Harry muttered weakly, adopting a weak smile to accompany it.

Hermione sat bolt upright, the comforter falling off of her and Harry did the same, still a brazen shade of crimson.

"What did we.. Uh.." Harry began, then noticing her bare breasts, flushed an even deeper shade and lifted the comforter to cover them. At first she flashed a look of anger, thinking he was going to attempt something, then gave an "Eep!" and seized the comforter to her chest, hugging it to her.

She slowly turned and looked at him up and down, her gaze resting on down as color filled her face further, bringing both them to matching shades.

"Speak for yourself," she smirked as his gaze followed hers to his bare torso, he was practically saluting the cold air. He flailed and spluttered, piling the comforter on top of his waist, as if covering it with an absurd amount of cloth would erase what just happened.

"Not funny," he grimaced and looked her full in the face, clearly pained by the events that has supposedly transpired.

"It is a little, although I think more so because the laughter is a defense mechanism," she reasoned and looked up at him, catching his eye.

Harry stared back and found himself diving into the pools of her beautiful brown eyes, seeing both things he fully recognized and things he never thought he would see within his best friend.

Friendship.

Loyalty.

Trust.

Admiration.

Love.

_'Lust..?'_

Brought back to reality by a smack across the head, he toppled off the bed and stood bolt upright, covering himself with whatever piece of the bedspread he grabbed first, which happened to be a sheet.

"Harry!" she yelled, "What have I told you about how inappropriate it is to read your friend's minds?" she sternly reprimanded him, adopting her ever-familiar bossy look.

"Sorry Hermione, it just happened," he gave a small apologetic smile, which softened her expression.

"I'm not sure what happened last night, or how we ended up like this, or why I feel... " he broke off and looked down.

"I have an idea," she stared fixedly out the window, pausing for a few moments before glancing back at him with a frown "I think we were both given a love potion last night."

Harry's mouth parted in shock, "Wait, both of us? That's stupid, it's dangerous enough giving one person a love potion and we were at a party full of friends that remember exactly what happened the last time one of us were slipped a love potion."

Hermione sighed and gave a wry laugh, "Someone probably meant it as a prank. It also explains why neither of us remember what happened, as some potions have that effect for maximum confusion once it wears off. Typically those potions are used in one of two cases, entrapment, or for a prank."

Harry didn't question her logic, it did sound like something someone might pull as a prank.

"That explains why we ended up together as opposed to someone stopping us, it was intended. I sincerely doubt they intended it to go this far though," Harry mused.

"Or that they deduced what would happen if both parties were under the effects of the potion," she added.

"What do you mean?" Harry looked puzzled.

Hermione crossed her arms over her chest and looked down at the bed, "Typically when one person is given a potion like this as a prank, it's meant to prank the victim and whomever the potion makes them fall for, but since the latter party isn't under the effect, they still have their inhibitions and full control. Neither one of us did."

Harry suddenly found his mouth very dry, and he noticed she was blushing again, "So we.." He left the statement open ended, but what was implied was clear.

"I don't.. I don't know," she looked at him with a frown.

"We need to know." Harry stated resolutely, "We need to know for our sake and for Ron and Gi-" he cut off. It hurt to think that he may have cheated, but what hurt more was the fact that it felt so right after he had awaken, and deep down he knew that the potion had wore off by then.

"Ron and I broke up half a year ago," she gave a small smile, "If that's any consolation, but I understand what you mean." Hermione stood up with purpose and got out of bed, giving Harry a good look at her bottom and causing him to cover his eyes.

"Oh!" Hermione covered her mouth and quickly began to dress, "Always the chivalrous one," she teased.

"Yeah, well.." he grunted, still covering her eyes and listening to her dress, to know when it was safe.

"Sorry about that, I had completely forgotten that we were naked still," she smiled.

"I hadn't."

"I can tell," she teased as he uncovered his eyes, her now fully dressed.

Suddenly feeling the draft and that there was nothing but a sheet between them, Harry glared, "Cover your eyes so I can dress."

"Nothing I haven't already seen," she mused, but complied nonetheless.

Harry dropped the sheet and turned around, grabbing his clothes off of the dresser and beginning to pull them on.

"That is one sexy bottom," there was a clear note of teasing in her voice, but it still made him jump.

"We need to figure this out." Determination in his voice, he turned to face her with his bottom half fully clothed, and pulled a shirt over his head.

Hermione nodded, "I agree, there should be a potion that can recover the memories blocked by the effects of whatever we were slipped."

_'Finally, a plan.'_

"Let's get to it then." Harry was almost scared to find out what had happened, as well as guilty. The guilt was surpassed though by a feeling of.. excited anticipation?


	2. Intermission

Disclaimer: Still don't own HP, which is probably for the best.

First off, I want to thank everyone for the reviews and bookmarks. I have never published anything and consider myself to be an average writer at best, but I am glad that you enjoyed reading it nonetheless.

I wanted to apologize for not writing more and wished to give some background information about myself to explain why. I am at heart a very open person, almost to a fault, so I don't mind sharing any of this:

I'm a 22 year old guy, currently married, and when I wrote the first chapter to this story, it was 6 or so months ago and during a time in which my wife and I had split apart. I wrote it as an emotional outlet of sorts, and it satisfied that need... but due to that being the reason I wrote it in the first place, I find it hard to continue the story without being in the right emotional state to prevent it from being forced, and not my best effort. Less than a month after publishing Chapter 1, I tried to reconcile things with my wife, and here we are around six months later, and her and I are splitting for good. Divorce papers filed and everything. Being a 22 year old divorcee sucks, but you do what you can with what life has given you. While I was with my soon-to-be-ex wife, I was unable to write for the most part. All of my romantic energies (for the lack of a better term) had to be put towards trying to keep my marriage afloat, and I couldn't spare any to write, as much as I wanted to at times. Like I said though, we have split, I am living on my own in a hotel and looking for an apartment to stay in on a permanent basis. When life settles down a bit more, the divorce paperwork is finalized, and I have a more permanent place of residence, I fully plan on writing more to this story. It was never intended to be a one-shot which should be obvious from how it left off. More like a three-shot ;)

Again though, thanks for all the support and reviews, I'm sorry it has taken so long to get some word out, and thanks for reading this.

tldr; I'm writing again. New chapters soon. Thanks for the support. Ilu(lessthan)333lolkkthxbai


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